'The Ghost of John McCain': What to know about the new musical comedy about McCain, Trump

It’s a cross between Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and Arizona’s feverish 2020 presidential race with a dash of Book of Mormon.

A new musical, produced by two Arizona-based political consultants, aims to use comedy to explore the testy relationship between the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former President Donald Trump.

The premise is zany: “In Ghost of John McCain, the late Vietnam War hero-turned-senator awakens, horrified to find himself back in captivity, in the afterlife, inside the mind of Donald Trump,” per the production’s synopsis. "As a prisoner of Trump’s war to win the approval of an establishment that Trump both reveres and scorns, McCain must fight for his freedom by engaging in a high-stakes debate over life, legacy, and American values.”

Jason Rose, a public relations consultant based in Scottsdale, says he conceived of the idea along with the late former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, who was McCain's first chief of staff in Congress and a longtime close friend.

After Woods died in 2021, Rose recruited Max Fose, an Arizona political consultant who worked on-and-off for McCain for 20 years, to work on the production.

In interviews, the two consultants criticized Trump as his political profile burgeons ahead of the 2024 presidential race.

The musical’s performance in New York is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 11, at the start of the presidential election year in which Trump again is the Republican frontrunner.

What is the musical's historical basis?

A major theme of the production, titled ‘The Ghost of John McCain,’ is McCain and Trump’s contrasting profiles.

McCain, often called a political “maverick” because he was known for his independence from the Republican Party, emphasized traditional patriotism and frequently criticized Trump’s rhetoric on immigration and other topics. Trump, on the other hand, dismissed McCain as a “RINO,” or Republican in Name Only, representing a bygone era of conservatism that no longer resonates with the GOP’s increasingly populist base.

McCain and Trump regularly traded barbs after Trump announced his bid for the presidency in 2015. The feud began when McCain took issue with Trump’s comments characterizing immigrants from Mexico as “rapists” and “criminals.”

It escalated when Trump mocked McCain’s record as a POW, saying McCain was “a war hero because he was captured” and that he liked “people that weren’t captured.” The North Vietnamese held McCain as a POW for more than five years.

Trump himself received a draft deferment that exempted him from serving in Vietnam.

Trump has continued to mock McCain since his death in 2018. Trump rekindled his attacks at a campaign event over the weekend, alluding to McCain's broken limbs to explain Republicans’ failure to pass health care legislation.

Kevin Munoz, a spokesperson for President Joe Biden's reelection campaign, defended McCain.

"Donald Trump could never understand a courageous hero like John McCain, who was imprisoned and tortured while defending the freedoms of Arizonans and all Americans," Munoz said Tuesday in a written statement. "Trump cares only about Trump — not the American people — which is why he will lose again this November.”

Aided by the endorsement of McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, Biden carried Arizona during the 2020 presidential election, partly because Trump underperformed in traditionally Republican areas across Maricopa County.

Trump’s attacks on McCain loom large in the minds of the musical’s producers. Fose called the latest insult “narcissistic,” “unfortunate,” and “sad.”

Rose recalled of the late Woods: “Grant’s take on it was that McCain is the person that Trump always wanted to be, but couldn’t, and it frustrates him that he can’t be revered and considered in the way that McCain is.”

What is 'The Ghost of John McCain' musical about?

As it explores McCain and Trump’s profiles, the musical will feature a “Greek Chorus” of political figures who “rebel against the President's relentless demands for affirmation,” per the production company.

They include Hillary Clinton, Trump’s Democratic challenger in the 2016 presidential race; Roy Cohn, the ruthless McCarthy-era lawyer who has represented Trump; the Argentine political leader Eva Peron; and Lindsay Graham, the GOP senator from South Carolina and friend of McCain's who has gone from a vocal critic of Trump to his staunch defender.

It also features two figures McCain often praised: former President Theodore Roosevelt and Robert Jordan, the fictional protagonist of Ernest Hemingway’s epic war novel For Whom the Bell Tolls.

“At its core, it's a ‘better angels’ story,” Rose said of the musical. “(McCain) needs to try to prevail upon Trump to let him out.”

On the message he seeks to send by promoting the play during an election year, Fose said: “I hope people walk away and they think ‘what can I do to help save our democracy, and what can I do to make our country a better place for our children?’… I just believe people need to vote their conscience.”

Does McCain's family have anything to do with the play?

Meghan McCain, the senator's daughter, told the Messenger Tuesday that her family was not aware of the musical and “has not authorized” the producers to use her father’s story.

However, her husband has since asked to attend the upcoming reading, and has been invited to come, Rose said.

Because the musical involves "fictionalized characters based on public figures,” the producers likely did not need permission from the McCain family, according to the entertainment industry news publication Deadline.

James McCain, the senator's son, said Thursday in a comment to The Arizona Republic that "the family obviously hasn't seen the play or script but believe that as long as it's respectful, have fun."

Will there be more performances of 'The Ghost of John McCain' after Thursday's?

The book was written by Scott Elmegreen, with Drew Fornarola serving as composer and lyricist.

Thursday's performance will take place in a private reading at Sunlight Studios in New York City.

Rose said that the reception of Thursday's reading will determine how to move forward with the production.

"Because it's a presidential year, we wanted to test this right at the top (of the year) in '24 … and decide rather quickly based on what we hear from the audience, 'We think we have a hell of an idea,' or 'We don't," Rose said. "We have a team that's ready to go in the event that we do move forward."

Arizona Republic reporter Ronald J. Hansen contributed to this report.

Laura Gersony is a national politics reporter for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Contact her at 480-372-0389, or by email at lgersony@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @lauragersony.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: The Ghost of John McCain haunts Donald Trump in new musical comedy